Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has announced, via a club statement, that all 550 non-playing directors and employees will receive a 20% salary cut for April and May in order to reduce the clubs cost amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The football club joins the likes of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus in attempting to reduce the financial impact the coronavirus has had on the football landscape. Tottenham will be hoping to use the Government’s new furlough scheme to support its staff members affected by the club’s statement.
Levy explained: “The club’s operations have effectively ceased, some of our fans will have lost their jobs and most will be worried about their future. Our sponsors will be concerned about their businesses and our media partners have no certainty when we may play games again or whether we will be allowed to play in front of our fans. In the meantime, the club has an annual cost base running into hundreds of millions of pounds.
“We may be the eighth largest club in the world by revenue according to the Deloitte survey but all that historical data is totally irrelevant as this virus has no boundaries.
“We ourselves made the difficult decision – in order to protect jobs – to reduce the remuneration of all 550 non-playing directors and employees for April and May by 20%.”
With COVID-19 causing the suspension and cancellation of various competitions, sporting organisations have resulted in drastic cost cutting measures as there is still no guaranteed date as to when or if any league’s will resume.
The Football Federation Australia (FFA), which runs all of the country’s national football teams, recently ‘stood down’ 70% of its staff after the virus left the country’s footballing sector financially insecure. Moreover, the Football Association (FA) has cancelled various non-league football competitions resulting in clubs taking a substantial financial hit, especially those tipped for promotion.
The Premier League is expected to continue it’s 2019/20 season, in some shape or form, with Levy hoping that this will result in players and coaches also ‘doing their bit for the football ecosystem’ as the world bands together to combat this current climate. With Levy starting that if everybody works together, then the club will remain financially healthy in the future.
The chairman added: “I have no doubt we will get through this crisis but life will take some time to get back to normal. I hope we will never take for granted so many basic things such as getting off the train at Seven Sisters, walking along Tottenham High Road, entering our stadium with our family and friends, and buying a beer and pie ahead of watching Spurs play at home.
“Many families will have lost loved ones, many businesses will have been destroyed, millions of jobs lost and many clubs whether big or small may struggle to exist. It is incumbent on me as chairman to ensure we do everything we can to protect our employees, our fans, our partners, our Club for future generations – and equally important – our wider community where we have such an immense sense of responsibility.”
